Peace
by EwanMcGregorIsMyHomeboy12
Summary: Every Jedi, even a fallen Jedi, has a unique connection to the Force. But where, when there is no peace to be found in even the force, does a Jedi look? Three moment look into the relationships that define the character behind Count Dooku: Jedi Master, and Darth Tyranus: Lord of the Sith.


Dooku stood at the end of the hangar as he usually did, only this time, he was actually paying attention to the other Jedi milling about. His former apprentice, his Padawan braid now gone, was waiting to board a ship that would carry him to his first solo mission as a knight. Dooku watched him, in typical Qui-Gon fashion, speaking with one of the low-ranking maintenance attendants, listening carefully as the man spoke.

It was a habit that had, on some level, always infuriated Dooku. His apprentices connection to the living force was extraordinary, that, along with his calm demeanor and lax attitude had allowed him to always excel in communication, and often left people speaking with him for longer than they should have. On many occasions on missions, Dooku's own patience worn thin, Qui-Gon had managed to coerce information from their informants. To Dooku, though, when his gift wasn't being used for information, it was always a pain to have a ten minute conversation when what could have been said only took two minutes to begin with.

It had also led to Qui-Gon's distraction. Even know, a full knight, Dooku watched as Qui-Gon's ship docked and he took no notice, choosing instead to continue his conversation. Dooku let out a breath, knowing that Qui-Gon's failures as a Jedi would always reflect on him as a master. He had his own plans. At 35, he was already being considered for a seat on the Council, his renown as a swordsman spreading through the temple.

"Master Dooku, sir, was there something you needed?" A man spoke to him, breaking his concentration from Qui-Gon's large form. A shriveled, elderly man was in front of him, Tai-lo. Tai-le. Something like that.

"A fighter. I am supposed to be leaving for the outer rim in the morning." He handed the old man a data pad form his pocket, and let his eyes venture back to Qui-Gon, who was breaking his conversation with the worker on the opposite side of the hangar.

"He's a good man, that one." Tai-le, Tai-lo, whatever his name was spoke. "Always been nice. He just got to be a Jedi Knight a few days ago, ya know."

"Yes. I know." Dooku said, as his old apprentice moved to board his ship.

"Oh yeah. He was your's, wasn't he?" The man said. "Not your youngling, of course, but however you Jedi do it."

"He was my apprentice, yes." The old man said, and smiled up at him, which Dooku returned with an upturning thin lips.

"Ya must be proud." The old man hobbled away, going to log his request in the Holonet database for Republic ships.

Dooku watched as Qui-Gon began loading his supplies on board, striking up another conversation with the female Mon Calamarian Captain that was aiding him. His lips went back to their usual state as he thought over the man's words. He must be proud. He supposed that he was. Qui-Gon was powerful, and an exemplary Jedi. But still...

As Dooku watched him, he wasn't sure that what he was feeling was pride. Instead, each time he saw Qui-Gon help the woman move a box, or wave cajolingly to the other dock workers, he was sure he felt an uneasy, unsettling twinge.

* * *

When he had resigned, and terminated his commitment to the Order, Dooku noticed that Yoda was the only one who did not seem surprised by his announcement. Dooku respected his old master, but he had found his watchful eyes an infuriating presence since he and Lorian had been discovered with Sith Holocron all those years ago. Such was it in this council meeting, when the rest of them seemed shocked that he had resigned, Yoda had stared at him, hard faced and impossible to read. But for the first time in a long time, Dooku felt peace from the force pulsing easily through him, confirming in him his decision.

When he had told them of his reasons, they had attempted to argue with him. But to Dooku, the corruption of both the Republic and the Jedi Order was prominent, and he wanted nothing more to do with it. He had strode form the council room to return to Serrano, the home he knew nothing of, and had passed by the faces of many confused Jedi. He ignored them, as he had his entire life, their stares and whispers meaning little to him.

At the end of his final trek through the temple, he came to look out of the space hangar, to the small ship that had been arranged for him to depart with the few belonging he had acquired. Standing to, in the hangar, was Qui-Gon and his apprentice, Obi-wan Kenobi.

Dooku had taken no interest in the boys training, in fact, since he and Qui-Gon had parted ways as Master and Apprentice, he had very little to do with him either. Dooku was aware of how strong his former apprentice was, and in hindsight, Dooku realized that Qui-Gon would most likely be the one to replace him as a member of the council. He watched the pair for a moment before moving to his ship at the front part of the hangar.

"Master Dooku?" He whipped around, to his surprise, seeing Qui-Gon standing behind him. His Padawan, Obi-wan, was in conversation with another apprentice, a blond human female who seemed to be a bit younger.

"Master Jinn." He said, his face unmoving as usual. "How are you?"

"You have resigned from the temple?" As usual, Qui-Gon's placid expression gave nothing away.

"Yes, I'm leaving now." They stood for a long moment, and as usual, Dooku couldn't tell if he was irritated with Qui-Gon, or with what he had come to realize were unresolvable issues with the Jedi Order as a whole.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Qui-Gon said finally, but again, his expression gave nothing away. Dooku thought about all he knew of his old apprentice's life beyond their time together. He knew of Xanatos, and the issues on Melida/Daan. He, along with few others in the temple, knew of Qui-Gon's attachment to Jedi Master Tahl.

"Thank you." Dooku turned his back on Qui-Gon, and moved to board his ship. "I must be going."

He moved the last of his things aboard, one hand on the hilt of his lightsaber.

"Master." Qui-Gon's quiet, authoritative voice came to him. He turned once again, standing poised on the ramp of his ship. "May the force be with you." And Dooku looked at him, almost sixty now, and thought of their ten years as master and apprentice.

"And with you." Then he turned, and boarded the ship, leaving Qui-Gon, Obi-wan Kenobi, Yoda, and all the rest of it behind him.

* * *

Dooku had not been in the presence of a Jedi in years. His only connection with them had bene shortly after his departure from the order, when, while meditating in the gardens of his new home, he had felt Qui-Gon's death through what remained in their force connection.

Unsure of his own thoughts on it at the time, he had stayed seated amongst the snapdragons and winding vines, allowing for the force to flow through him. The force connection he felt to Qui-Gon had never been as strong as that shared between other master and apprentice pairs, but Qui-Gon's own strength in the living force had allowed them to bond. He felt that connection be surrounded by the Dark side of the force as Qui-Gon had died, but had not dwelled on it.

He had moved through the grounds of his estate, working in the outdoor facility he had constructed for himself, using that brief push of the living force as a reason to practice using his own connection. He moved through the typical force exercises, moving the pillars he had constructed, spinning the fans, flipping himself easily through what had become little more than a child's obstacle course for him.

In a short time, he found he was no longer focusing on Qui-Gon's death, but instead on the other power he had felt emanating from the interaction. The small sensory movement of the dark side through his sense had ignited a sort of sensation within him. He moved through the gardens faster, this time drawing his lightsaber and moving through the eighteen basic phases of the Mikashi movements, attempting to distract his mind, but that small connection had settled itself in the forefront of his mind.

But once again, Dooku found himself in the company of a Jedi Much had changed since the day he had felt his apprentice's death. What had begun as a small twinge of the dark side had blown fully into his new life as a Sith Lord. OF which the Jedi, including the one in his prison on Geonosis, knew nothing of.

He could feel its power moving through his veins now, surging through all the cells of his body, under his control now. But he had maintained his political connections, and as the galaxy, under the call of Dooku's new master, moved towards an imminent war, Dooku used his new powers to aid in his control of the Separatist systems.

He stepped through the cell door, knowing what he would find there. Obi-wan Kenobi revolved in a ray shield prison feet above Dooku's head, his hair long, though not as long as Qui-Gon's had been, his eyes full of a frustration that Dooku sensed might be the great flaw of this Jedi. But he was intrigued by the power he felt. Kenobi was strong with the connecting force as well as the living force, but as Dooku found himself talking to him, he found it difficult to believe that such a hard-headed individual could have been the apprentice of Qui-Gon Jinn.

Many things Dooku had not known of his old apprentice, and he had never bothered to learn many things. But he had to often been told to check Qui-Gon's individualistic spirit, and as the Republic ventured further and further form its ideals, Dooku felt that his old apprentice would know of such, he would have realized, after ten years pushing towards the war, that whatever the Jedi were fighting for, it was not peace.

He tried to convince Kenobi of this, telling him openly that Sidious, Dooku's new master, was indeed the Chancellor, but the young Jedi refused to hear it. Dooku could feel his frustration, the flaw that Master Yoda had seen, that Dooku refused to accept, building inside of him again. Kenobi, like all of the others, was arrogant and oblivious to their own demise. He had little patience for him, but something about the man intrigued him. His strong force connection perhaps, his connection to Skywalker, or his known reputation as an orator, led Dooku to not simply give up on him. IF he could take Kenobi as an apprentice, he would. Fate though, would not have it.

Sidious' next set of orders were clear. Slaughter Kenobi. His master, Dooku could tell, was desperate for Skywalker to join the dark side, and saw Kenobi's death as the quickest path to it. Dooku, of course, obliged him, organizing for Kenobi to be executed the next day in the Geonosis public arena. But he couldn't help but think of his own plans against his master. How useful Kenobi would be. He spent the elate evening meditating on it, feeling, instead of the calming waves of the force he had felt on Serrano when he had learned of Qui-Gon's death, the surges in power pulsing through his veins, winding through is brain and in the deepest parts of his chest. But for the first time since that day, he longed for a sense of peace.


End file.
